CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Almost one year after announcing a deal intended to solve P.E.I.’s rural internet woes, the province has finally inked a deal with both Bell and Xplornet.
Economic Growth Minister Matthew MacKay announced the details of the deal in a briefing on Friday morning, with both interim Liberal Leader Sonny Gallant and Green Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker present. MacKay said the two agreements will see improved internet service for the vast majority of Island households, with about 97 per cent of households in the province reaching minimum internet download speeds of 50 megabits per second and upload speeds of 10 megabits per second.
The 50-megabit download and 10-megabit upload speeds are the minimum standard for broadband set by the Canadian Radio-television and Communications Commission.
Although timelines vary across communities in P.E.I., the work is slated for completion by August of 2023. Previously, MacKay had said the improvements to rural internet would be completed by the end of 2021.
- Full text of the agreement with Bell
- Full text of the agreement with Xplornet
MacKay made available the text of the agreement between the province and both Bell and Xplornet to media and the Opposition party leaders.
"It's taken us a while to get to this point,” MacKay said during the briefing.
“All along I said I wanted to take my time and do it right. I really feel that we've done it right."
The agreements with Bell and Xplornet have differing timelines.
The agreement with Bell will see the fibre upgrades to 9,422 homes, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. These improvements are concentrated in rural towns including Montague, Cavendish, Mount Stewart, Covehead, Charlottetown, New Haven, Tignish and Tyne Valley.
Full maps of the improvements, as well as the specific civic numbers that will see improvements, can be viewed here.
The agreement with Xplornet will see upgrades to a total of 20,000 homes, with 17,000 fixed wireless and 3,000 fibre to home. The expected completion date of this work will be Aug. 31, 2023. The improved areas from the Xplornet agreement are concentrated in eastern Prince County, as well as in parts of Kings County.
A map of these areas is also available here.
Both Bell and Xplornet will begin work on the internet improvements on April 1, 2020.
"All along I said I wanted to take my time and do it right. I really feel that we've done it right."
-Matthew MacKay
MacKay said there are around 2,000 civic addresses on P.E.I. that are not covered under this agreement. Many of these addresses are in harder to reach areas, such as on rural roads.
"There are going to be individuals who may be off in an area that's just — they're by themselves," said Joseph Rowledge, a senior policy adviser with Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture.
Crucially, the agreements do not commit either Bell or Xplornet to complete the all of the broadband upgrades by the timeline of 2021 or 2023. However, the funding allocated by the province is contingent on work being carried out on a monthly basis.
Bevan-Baker asked about the requirements for completion of both Bell and Xplornet during the briefing.
“Bell is saying they will do it by June 2021. But there's no obligation in the contract to do it before five years hence," Bevan-Baker said.
"We haven't put in any mechanism to say that it has to be completed,” Rowledge said.
“They are the ones that are building the infrastructure. It's their infrastructure that's currently out there. In their mind, the faster that they can get the service built, revenue starts to flow."
"They don't get paid until the service is being built," MacKay added.
The full $74 million project will see $33 million provided by the federal government and $3.57 provided by the P.E.I. government.
In addition, the Province announced separate agreements with two businesses through the Broadband Fund, a federal program that provides funding support for broadband internet upgrades in rural areas of Canada. The two businesses were AirTech Communications in Richmond and Eastern Fabricators in Georgetown.
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